Remember Me
by foldintothenight
Summary: Requested by futureWWEDiva2011. Sara Austin is the daughter of "Stone Cold". Everyone knows that now, but they didn't when she was in high school. She wasn't popular then. She was more of a plain, nerdy girl who studied alot. She was always made fun of for various reasons. Now that she's one of the top Divas, will her old classmates remember her? What will happen after they do?
1. Chapter 1

**Starting things right off with an "I own nothing!" disclaimer. Sara Austin belongs to futureWWEDiva2011, as does the idea for this story. I felt like it was an amazing idea, and I'm very happy to bring it to life for her.**

**I'm going to be jumping back and forth between this and "My Happy Ending". Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with both.**

* * *

Things didn't start out so glamorous for Sara Austin. Teenage years were not her best friend. She was skinny, nerdy, and just plain unattractive. She did her best to not let the actions of the popular kids get her down, but it was hard. High school can be a very unforgiving time for someone if they're not on the football team or one of the cheerleaders. Sara wasn't that. Not even close.

She was someone, though. It was just that no one knew it. She knew that all of the boys on the football team gathered at one house each week and watched Monday Night RAW, or rather "Raw is War" and "War Zone" as it was known at the time. Part of the reason that she knew this was because in the halls they had began emulating the actions of the most popular superstar of the time, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Sara's father. The only thing was, they didn't know this. They didn't have the first clue who Sara really was. All they cared is that she was the perfect target for ridicule. It killed her inside to know that they had such admiration and respect for the man she called "daddy", yet they had the audacity to treat her like they did.

There was one boy who wasn't always as mean to her. They had grown up next door to each other and he often walked her home from school. The only thing that had kept him from being her white knight was the fact that he never stood up for her. He may not have tortured her in the way that the other boys had, but he did nothing to put a stop to it. This didn't make her hate him, but he still wasn't her favorite person because of it. Many times she pleaded with the boy in private to end it, but he never did. He knew that if he had, he would be putting himself on the same level as her in his peers eyes. Fear of that alone caused things to remain unchanged.

After enduring three years of torture, Sara graduated from high school in 2001 and went on to study sociology at Texas A&M University. She began running and working out daily around her classes. College for Sara wasn't the same as it was for most young people. She didn't bother trying to get into a sorority. She never partied, never drank, nor did she even bother dating, let alone hook up with any boys. After everything she had went through in high school, Sara only had one thing on her mind. Follow in her father's footsteps and show everyone they were wrong about her. She was focused and determined. Patience was a virtue, and Sara Austin had become a master of virtue.

It was early 2012 when Sara Austin burst onto the scene in the WWE. After spending five years in the independent circuit, she was signed to a developmental deal and made her way to Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009. In the first couple of months on the main roster, she hadn't really made an impact. This was to be expected, though. No one had even realized her last name was significant. They all just chose to believe it was a coincidence. Everyone had to work their way to the top. The daughter of a hall of famer would be no different. For weeks, she did many segments and promos, hinting that she had a surprise for the WWE Universe. She was already beginning to be a little successful, but she still had a long way to go before she reached any sort of popularity. The surprise that she had coming would for sure make an impression.

It was her first time on Monday Night RAW and the second generation Diva had a singles match against the third generation Diva, Natalya. The other girl made her way to the ring first, waiting patiently for her opponent. The arena fell silent just before hearing the very familiar sound of glass smashing before Sara's entrance theme began to play. After giving the crowd a very brief moment to take in what they just heard, Sara made her way to the entrance ramp accompanied by her father, the one and only "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This was the moment she let everyone know exactly who she was. This was the moment that everything changed for Sara. Whether she was ready for it or not, this was her time.

During the match, Sara heard the chants of "Stone Cold", which made her proud. The match was extremely well fought. It could have easily went one way or the other, and it came right down to the end. The seemingly out of it Sara countered Natalya's Sharp Shooter and applied the "Stone Cold Stunner" on her opponent to win the match. After the daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart came to, she was helped up by Sara, and the Divas shook hands in the ring. Stone Cold came into the ring and raised both of the young women's hands with a proud grin. Whether the WWE universe liked it or not, the Divas were about to become a big part of the show, and it was all because of one girl. It may have been the "PG" era, but a little attitude was about to be mixed in, and the crowd loved it.

…

Over the next few weeks, the offers began to pour in for Sara. Along with getting rave reviews for her Diva focus, she was offered a job modeling for Candie's shoes, as well as becoming a Cover Girl. In early September, she was personally approached by a big name in the music business to star in his next music video. That was only the beginning. After finishing one music video, other artists began to contact her. The years had been nice to Sara, and she loved showing it off. She didn't even notice that Randy, John, and Zack hadn't even recognized her from their days in high school days together. She didn't have the time to. Ever since she had become important enough for them to possibly notice her, she hadn't had the time to approach them. She didn't even have the time to wonder if she cared.

Randy Orton and John Cena were seniors when she and Zack Ryder were sophomores in high school. She had grown up with Zack, she had even considered him her best friend until he had made the varsity football team. After that, there were nights when Sara sat on her front porch, only to see Zack coming home to give her an apologetic look. The first few times, she forgave him, but as it became more apparent that things weren't going to change, she would shake her head at him. She had lost her only friend that year, and it was something that she had taken very personally. To this very day, she hadn't forgiven Zack for the way he treated her just to gain popularity in high school.

…

After a couple of months, Sara's schedule began to slow down a bit. She no longer felt like she was bouncing from activity to activity, with a few hours to sleep here and there. She was still in high demand, but she found a balance. She finally found her feet coming back to the ground when she noticed that Zack had been paying extra close attention to her backstage. Was it because he thought he recognized her? Or was it because he was hoping for a new on-screen girlfriend? Well, it was either one of those two, or he was actually hot for her, and hoping to ask the Diva out. When two weeks went by, and he hadn't approached her, she had her answer. He didn't recognize her. It was one thing that Randy and John didn't see her as different from any of the other Divas, but this was Zack. How could he not know?

One week before the show began Sara took it upon herself to sit down in an empty chair next to Zack in the catering area. There was no one else at the table, so she took advantage of the situation. She would feel things out, just to see what she was dealing with. She smiled sweetly at her male co-worker, beginning to take a bite out of the salad she had just made for herself. After chewing it completely, she looked up to Zack, taking a sip of her water. "Didn't expect me to sit here?" she smirked.

"Didn't expect you to notice me. Not many people do these days," he shrugged as he continued eating.

She nodded, "it's got to be rough. The Superstars roster is a lot bigger than the Divas. I've noticed that a lot of you tend to get lost in the mix."

"But they still treat all of you like mid-carders, and it's not right," Zack pointed out.

"Says one of the most beloved mid-carders," Sara laughed softly with a smile.

"Yeah, well try telling booking that," he grunted, playing with a balled up napkin.

"Could you imagine of they did a whole episode of RAW with just mid-carders?" Sara suggested playfully.

"Only if they devote an entire hour of the three to the Divas. It would only be fair," Zack grinned widely at his female co-worker.

"We can only hope," she nodded as she finished eating and excused herself. She made her way back to the Divas locker room. She had her answer, or at least she was fairly sure she did. Either Zack didn't recognize her, or he was pretending not to.

"You okay?" Barbie Blank, better known as Kelly Kelly, walked over to Sara in the locker room.

Sara just shrugged, looking up to one of the Divas that she somewhat considered a friend. "Do you keep in touch with anyone you went to high school with?"

Barbie thought for a moment before nodding, "a few. Why?"

"We work with some of my former classmates. They don't remember me," Sara looked up with a frown as she put the finishing touches on her ring gear and got up. "I don't know if I should be hurt or relieved."

…

It was obvious to everyone who actually knew a little about wrestling that Sara was distracted in the ring that night. She was scheduled to win, but she was off her game. Alicia Fox was doing her best to make Sara look good. Fortunately, it worked out without having to go too much off the script. The twenty-six year old Diva was able to sell the win to her twenty-eight year-old competitor. Once they were backstage and heading back to the locker room, Sara thanked Alicia.

"Yeah, no problem. We all have off days. Lord knows I've had plenty," Alicia patted her co-worker's shoulder as she slipped into the locker room to shower off.

Sara was about to follow the other girl just as she was stopped. She looked up to see Zack in front of her, grinning wide as ever. So maybe she was wrong. Maybe he did remember her. "Hey Zack," she managed to get out, still a little out of breath and flushed from her match.

"Sara," he nodded, "I just wanted to tell you that you looked great out there just now."

"Thanks," she smiled as she wiped some sweat off of her brow.

"Look, um.." he rolled back on his heels. "A bunch of us are going out for drinks after the show. I was wondering if you wanted to come."

Sara blinked a few times, slowly shaking her head. There was her answer. He was asking her out. There would be no way he would be asking her out like this after the way they had parted things thirteen years earlier. "I... I really don't know what to say, Zack."

The young man blinked, completely oblivious as to why he had gotten that reaction. "What's the problem? Don't drink? You wouldn't be the only one."

She sighed, shaking her head and closing her eyes for a moment. "You really don't remember me, do you?" She frowned as she slipped into the locker room, escaping him before allowing him to respond.


	2. Chapter 2

_Y__ou don't remember me, but I remember you. I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you. But who can decide what they dream? And dream I do... _- "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence

Weeks went by after Zack had asked Sara out. As flattered as she was, she was extremely hurt that her former best friend didn't seem to remember her. When they were teenagers, none of her classmates knew that Stone Cold was her father. So the night that he had accompanied her to the ring, it wasn't telling at all. She just earned a tad bit more respect based on where she came from. Overnight, she became one of the bigger name Divas, and she loved it. Still, she missed her one time best friend, and she wondered if she could get him back.

Sara caught Zack pacing backstage before a match on RAW, and walked up to him. She smiled, tilting her head a bit. "You know that you're going to do great, right?"

Not expecting anyone to approach him, Zack jumped back a bit. "Oh... Sara. I was beginning to think you didn't want to speak to me again."

"Do you really not remember me?" she crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the floor.

"I'm still trying to think of where I should be remembering you from. I'm sorry, Sara. Could you at least give me a hint?" he frowned.

Sara sighed. She knew it had been a long time. She knew that she looked nothing like she had before. She definitely didn't act like she had fifteen years earlier. So she decided to give him one more chance. "In second grade, you were pantsed by some of the bigger kids. Do you remember what happened next?"

Zack blinked, stepping away from the Diva. "It can't be," he shook his head. "There's no way," he quickly made his way toward the arena for his match.

Sara sighed in exasperation, turning around and bumping into Dolph Ziggler. She blinked, stepping back. "S-sorry..."

The show off chuckled softly, "hey, no harm no foul. Just be glad Vickie didn't see that."

The brunette Diva smiled softly, "it almost seems like you two have a thing going moreso than when you were claiming to."

"No comment," Ziggler licked his lips, looking her over.

"Right," she rolled her eyes. "Look, I need to go find something to hit."

Knowing it wasn't his business to ask, the former champion nodded. "I think that I can help with that." He cautiously brought a hand to the small of her back, leading her down the hall.

…

Later that night Zack sat in a bar with John, Randy, and Sheamus. "Bros, I have a... hypothetical question for everyone."

"Hit us, man," John nodded.

"Say you ran into someone who claims to be from your past. They look nothing like the person you knew before, yet they know things that only this person would know. Do you believe them?" Zack asked before taking a sip of his beer.

John and Randy both raised their eyebrows. Having gone to high school with the younger man, they knew a lot of the same people. So they wondered if their friend was talking about someone from their past as well.

Taking the cue that the other men seemed to decline, Sheamus spoke up. "I'd say give them the benefit of the doubt, fella. Talk to them a little more and find out for sure. Unless you think that it could be some obsessed fan, that is."

Zack shook his head, "this person isn't a fan dudes. She's one of the Divas."

…

The next night at the SmackDown tapings Dolph Ziggler was looking rather pained. As expected, he had attempted to seduced Sara. However, she wasn't having any of it. She had gotten her chance to hit something due to his actions. As soon as she figured out what he had in mind, she punched him hard in the gut. She wasn't that type of girl in the slightest, no matter how sexy she looked in the music videos, she just simply wasn't the type to hook up. She had spent so much time focused on other things that she never even took the time to date, and she wasn't about to start with someone like Dolph Ziggler.

While filming "Backstage Fallout", Dolph was questioned why it looked like he had been favoring his mid-section the entire match. Before he got a chance to make up any sort of excuse Sara walked by, making a drive-by comment.

"That sort of thing tends to happen when a fist meets your internal organs head on," she smirked at the camera, raising her eyebrows playfully.

Declining to answer another question, Dolph waved off the camera, walking away with a groan.

As Sara continued down the hall, she was stopped by Zack, who had a response from the night before. "After I was pantsed, a girl with no friends jumped in front of me so no one could see anything."

Sara nodded slowly, swallowing hard. "This girl had already known you for years. You actually shared a sandbox with her until your parents could afford to get you one."

Zack hung his head. "I'm so sorry, Sara. I just... You... What happened to you?"

Sara laughed softly, "I was a late bloomer. It happens. I spent two years mad at you, but I never tried to see if we could resolve things after graduation." She shrugged, biting her lip, "so it's really just as much my fault. Now I... I just don't know..." she turned around and began walking away.

"Sara wait..." Zack desperately tried to get her to stay and talk more.

"Why? It's not like things can magically go back to the way it was before," she bit her lip, fighting back tears.

Zack sighed, hanging his head, "and it's not like I expect that. I hurt you, Sara. I hurt you more than any of the others. I know that. Could I at least try to make it up to you," he reached for her hand, taking a deep breath.

She sighed in return, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Will you let me think about it?"

He nodded, bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing it softly. "I am truly sorry. I mean it."

Sara nodded with a soft smile, "I know. Just give me some time." She slowly pulled away from him, a warm smile spreading across her face. She quickly made her way to her dressing room, wanting to remain in private for the rest of the night. She sat down, burying her face in her hands. She wept for a few minutes before laying down and taking a nap until the show was over and quietly left alone.

…

Zack spent the next couple of weeks mostly to himself. Wrapping his head around the fact that his gorgeous co-worker was once his best friend was proving extremely difficult. He made no further mention of it to John and Randy, so he assumed that they had forgotten him bringing the subject up to them. He missed Sara and longed to talk to her again. He missed their friendship, and hoped to someday share some sort of bond with her again. He was no longer interested in dating her. He just wanted to get to know her all over again. He had completely written her off after high school, and he regretted it. Since then, he delved into his new life as an aspiring professional wrestler, and left everything behind. Even the important things. Part of him was glad that she hadn't approached him yet. He wasn't so sure that it was the best idea to attempt rebuilding their friendship when he hadn't really taken in the full reality of the whole situation yet.

"Earth to Ryder," Randy laughed, waving his hand in front of his friend's face in the locker room.

Zack blinked a few times, he had been getting ready for his match that night, and he had gotten lost in thought. "Oh... hey bro."

The older man shook his head. "You're off in another world there, Zack. Got your mind on that blast from the past chick?"

Zack smiled, continuing on his quest to get ready for his match. "Definitely. My mind has been blown for weeks." He finished getting ready, not even realizing how what he had just said could be taken.

Randy smirked, "nothing like old flames. Good for you, man."

Before Zack could respond, Randy was already out the door. He shrugged, letting the other man think what he wanted on the situation for the time being. If Sara wanted to tell the other men from her past who she was, it was ultimately her choice in the end. He got up and made his way to the gorilla position, getting ready for his entrance theme to play. Feeling a new found confidence, Zack did the best he had in a while, winning the match with ease. As he made his way to the back once more, he was greeted by a familiar face.

Sara was grinning widely, clapping for her former best friend. "That's probably the best I've seen you wrestle."

The bleached blonde man couldn't help but grin at her admiration. "Thanks, Sar. How have you been?"

She nodded slowly, starting to walk with him. "Good. Still been crazy busy. I'm sort of glad that I only took on two spokes model jobs. Things tend to get hectic as is."

He smiled, wishing her knew first hand what she was going through, but still at least still understood. "As long as you keep a balance, and have a method to keep yourself sane."

Sara smiled, "I think I'm getting there. I do have an idea of how I can get there even more."

"Oh? What's that?" he stopped as he reached the locker room area, turning to face the Diva.

"Reconnecting with an old friend, and seeing if we could ever be as close as we once were," she took his hand, squeezing it.

Zack felt his cheeks redden as he looked down. "I should probably tell you that I mentioned something to Randy and John before I figured out who you are, and..." he slowly looked up, taking a deep breath, "they still don't know that it's you, and I think that Randy assumes that you're an old girlfriend."

Sara shrugged, pursing her lips together. "Let them think that."

He laughed, shaking his head. "They're not the same as they were then."

"And neither am I," she smirked, letting go of his hand. "Teenagers can be cruel, and I know they've both matured a lot since then. We can take our time telling them. I do want to eventually."

Zack nodded, "I should probably shower off."

"Of course, I'll see you later," Sara gave him a quick hug before allowing him to slip into the locker room.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week Sara walked into her dressing room only to be greeted by a bouquet of orchids, a few "I'm Sorry" balloons, and a box of her favorite chocolates. Her father just happened to be walking in behind her to find the display just as she did.

Stone Cold tilted his head, looking toward his at his daughter, "do you know who this is from?"

Sara bit her lip, walking over the flowers to look at the card. She laughed softly, shaking her head, "it's from Zack."

"And what exactly is he apologizing for? Did he do something to you?" he was being a typical father, getting ready to kick the younger man's ass at the drop of a hat.

She took a deep breath, turning to look at her father. "He succumbed to peer pressure. Well, back in high school, that is."

"And he's only apologizing now?" he looked to his daughter skeptically.

"Well, he's only just now finding out that I'm the same girl. It's strange, I know," she shrugged with a sigh.

"You're not lying to me, are you Sara Ann? You promise that he didn't try anything?"

She shook her head, "no, Zack isn't that type of guy. We used to be best friends, then he made the football team..."

Her father nodded, "I think I see where this is going. It happens. You do know that if any of the guys give you any sort of trouble, I hope you wouldn't hesitate to come to me."

Sara laughed, smirking on her father. "I don't know. I did fairly well on my own when Ziggler tried to put the moves on me."

"He did what?" he started for the door.

She shrugged, "he tried to comfort me with sex, but I wasn't having any of it. I hit him. Hard."

"Excuse me..." Steve left the room.

Sara blinked a few times, "but dad..." but she couldn't catch him before he made his way down the hall. She shrugged, setting her bag down and began getting ready for the night.

…

Just as Zack Ryder was heading to his match Sara walked up to him, slipping his arms around him. "Hey, might you be looking for a manager?"

Zack chuckled, returning the embrace by wrapping his arms around his former best friend. "I would love to have a beautiful girl joining me at ringside."

"On one condition, though?" she looked at him.

"Anything," he nodded.

"Let's keep it completely non-romantic?"she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He smiled, giving her a small squeeze before breaking the embrace. "I wouldn't dream of it, Sar. I am more than content with just being friends."

"Good," she nodded as they continued their way to the gorilla position.

As the sounds "Radio" by Watt White filled the arena Sara followed Zack down the ramp with a smile on her face. They did their best to not appear "coupley", but knew that it would be assumed no matter what they did. They prepared themselves for this in their minds as they made their way down to the ring. She stayed by his side in the ring until just after the bell was rung, where he retreated to the floor, looking on as Zack faced Justin Gabriel in what was hoped to be an exciting match.

"You know J.R.," Michael Cole chuckled, "I can't help but think of what her dad has to say about her hanging out with none other than Zack Ryder."

"Well, I happen to know Stone Cold Steve Austin very well, and I know that he happens to be somewhere in the arena tonight. If he didn't approve, I guaran-damn-tee he would make it known," the hall of famer responded to his co-commentator.

"That's a very good point," the less experienced commentator conceded. "His reputation proceeds him, and we have been seeing a lot of him in his daughter."

"Yes, I would have to say that it has been very interesting to see a feminine touch on the moves and demeanor of one of most revered competitors of the Attitude Era," Jim Ross added the last bit about Sara before going back to commentating on the match that happened to be going on in the ring.

…

Sara and Zack walked backstage after an action packed, satisfying match, in which Zack ultimately won. As they came up to the locker room they were greeted by Stone Cold. The appearance of the girl's father caused Zack to go pale. He attempted to retreat into the locker room, but Sara grabbed her friend's arm, laughing. "It's okay, Zack. My dad isn't going to hurt you." She looked up to her father, "right dad?"

Steve chuckled intimidatingly, looking to the young man next to his daughter. "Just so long as you don't do anything stupid like when you were kids, and I'll let you keep your limbs."

Zack nodded timidly, "y-yes sir."

The former champion slapped his hand down on the young man's shoulder. "Looking good out there tonight. I definitely see potential in what you're doing."

"Th-thank you," Zack backed up a little, hoping to escape into the locker room to shower off.

"Dad, I think we should let him go before he wets himself," Sara teased.

Her father nodded, playfully shoving Zack toward the door. "Go ahead, kid. I'm sure I'll see you around."

As Zack finally made his way in the locker room, Sara shook her head, laughing. "You know, you were the guys' idol back in the day," she started walking back to the dressing room that she and her father were sharing for the night.

"Is that so?" he tilted his head, looking to his daughter.

She nodded with a smirk, "Zack was rather out of place on the team, but he was good in the position he was put in. So they took him in. I barely remember anyone else from the team, the only reason I remember two of them is because they happen to be here, as well."

"Here as in happen to be in the audience on a regular basis? You follow them on Twitter?" He questioned as they walked into the room.

She shook her head, looking down. "No, as in they're both former world champions."

…

Three days later Sara was just finishing up with an early photo shoot in NYC. It was close to noon and she was looking to have lunch and just relax for the rest of the day. Knowing that Zack was home for the day, she sent him a text, asking him if he wanted to hang out for the day. When he accepted, she smiled. She still hadn't fully forgiven him, but she knew that spending time with him would help her in doing so. He suggested a cafe to meet him at close to where her photo shoot had been, and she was able to walk there. When he arrived, her smile brightened as she walked over to him, hugging him tightly.

He returned the hug with a grin, "I was wondering if I'd hear from you on an off day."

She shrugged, "I figured this would be the best way to separate personal things and work things on rebuilding out friendship."

"It also helps that your dad isn't around," he chuckled nervously as they found a place to sit down and waited for the waitress to take their order.

She smirked as they each received a glass of water. "Lucky for you, he stands down when I tell him to."

He nodded, "I heard that Dolph wasn't so lucky."

Sara sighed, looking away.

"Sar?" he frowned.

"Ziggler tried to make a move on me a few weeks ago after I was all frustrated that you didn't want me to be well...me. I accidentally told my dad and he went ballistic." She shrugged.

"I would hate to find out what he would do if you actually wanted to date one of our coworkers," he laughed, sitting back.

Sara sighed, nodding. "The poor guy would be under a microscope the entire time."

Zack raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Is there a guy on the roster you have your eyes on?"

Sara shrugged, "the thought has crossed my mind, but I've always been cautious. Oh, and while we're on the subject? No, I definitely don't look at you like that."

Zack pouted playfully, "it's all good, girl. I think that once I found out who you are, my crush immediately dissolved. I mean, I still find you attractive, but I just don't see you like that."

Sara laughed, "it's fine. I know exactly what you're saying. I've always thought that you were a good looking guy, but we just get along on a level that will never involve anything like that."

He smiled, nodding. "That's why we were best friends."

A couple of hours later, Zack had taken Sara to his house. She was browsing through his movie collection as he was finding some drinks and snacks for them to sit down with and enjoy without needing to get up too often.

As Zack came into the room, Sara laughed, shaking her head. "I think you own every DVD involving our coworkers. You even have all of Dwayne's movies."

Zack grinned, "gotta support the company. Never bite the hand that feeds. See anything appealing?"

Sara continued running her fingers along his many rows of movies before stopping on one. She pulled it out, handing it to Zack. "I actually haven't seen this one yet. I've been meaning to, though."

He nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, I've been a bad friend to Randy. I'm surprised I've even opened it."

"So it looks like we're watching That's What I Am. Too bad they covered his tattoos for it," she said casually as she walked over to the couch and got comfortable.

Zack raised an eyebrow, smirking. "The ink does really make him who he is, huh?"

She nodded, blushing a bit. "Plus, they can be nice to look at."

He coughed, not responding as he put the disc in and grabbed the remote before sitting with her.


	4. Chapter 4

A month went by and the former best friends hadn't missed a beat. They were always at ringside for each other's matches. Every time they were interviewed they insisted that they were just friends. Many interviewers attempted to be creative, getting them to slip, but it never happened. There wasn't anything romantic between them, so Sara and Zack weren't lying whenever they were cornered and caught off-guard. After just a couple of weeks, Dolph Ziggler began running his mouth. He would come out during Sara's matches, taunting Zack. He even went as far to say in a backstage interview that Sara was only hanging out with Zack because he had turned her down. Annoyed, Sara came out the next week on RAW after Dolph lost to Randy Orton. She climbed into the ring, eyeing Randy as she kicked Dolph in the stomach and hit him with a "Stone Cold Stunner". Randy chuckled at the girl from his past that he had forgotten and decided to hit his opponent with a second "RKO". Satisfied, they left the ring together, laughing. They walked up the ramp side by side as they ignored the sounds of Vickie Guerrero screaming at them from the bottom.

Once they made it to the locker room area, Randy smiled. "You're a cool chick, Sara. I can't believe I haven't known you all along."

Sara just shrugged, blushing a bit. "I'm just a girl from San Antonio. No big deal."

"But... I went to high school in San Antonio," Randy blinked.

"Yeah... I know," she winked and walked away, letting him shower off.

She walked into Zack's dressing room with a huge grin. It was like as if she had drifted off into another world.

Zack shook his head, clapping a couple of times. "I bet that felt good."

"Hey," she laughed as she sat down on the couch in the room. "I told my dad that I could handle myself, and it's about time I proved it."

"And you got to spend a couple of minutes with Randy," Zack winked playfully.

Sara sighed with a shrug, "I'll admit that he's a lot nicer now and I may be crushing a bit, but I am in no way looking to jump into anything."

Zack nodded, "would you be up to going out for a beer after the show?"

Sara shrugged, "who all is going to be there?"

Zack thought for a moment before answering, "John, Randy, Cody, Ted, Sheamus, and I think a couple of the other Divas."

Sara nodded, "yeah, that sounds good to me."

…

Later that night the group sat together in a bar, everyone had a beer in hand. Layla and Eve had joined them, which Sara wasn't all too fond of, but she chose to not voice it.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Randy held his beer bottle in the air. "To the daughter of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, our idol. She proved tonight that she's not just another pretty face in the ring."

"Oh, so you doubted me?" Sara laughed as she glared at the man known as The Viper.

Randy shook his head, "it's hard to get a good feel for you ladies. You get hardly any ring time."

"I'll take that," Sara raised her bottle in the air, the rest of the table following suit.

"Did you know she went to school with us, John?" Randy looked to his best friend after everyone quieted down once more.

John blinked, looking over to Zack and Sara, who were smirking at one another. "You don't say?"

"Yeah," Randy shrugged, "I guess that's how she and Zack know each other."

Sara just smiled, not saying anything as the best friends said that they didn't recognize her at all. Over the course of the night, she declined giving the other men that she once went to school with any clues as to who she was. She just basked in the amusement of their curiousity until it was time to head back to the hotel and turn in for the night.

Zack walked her to her room, a huge smile on his face. "See? They've done a lot of growing up in the past fifteen years."

Sara nodded as they reached the door to her room and took a deep breath. "Now I'm actually almost worried that they're going to feel super guilty for the way they treated me."

Just then Layla was walking past them, over hearing that last part. "Who did what to you and can I help you kick their arse?"

Sara smiled, out of the two girls that had joined them that night, she actually somewhat liked the British woman. "I was bullied in high school, but a couple of my bullies have grown up to be much better people."

The older woman nodded, knowing that it wasn't her business to ask any further questions. "Well, if they truly are better people now, they will understand whatever you choose."

Sara nodded as the other woman started walking down the hall toward her own room again. "Have a good night, Layla!"

Layla turned back and blew a kiss at the friends and waved at them.

Sara sighed as she looked up at Zack. "I guess that it's just a matter of how to tell them now."

Zack nodded, wrapping his arms around his friend. "No matter what you choose, I will be right by your side."

She smiled, returning the embrace. "We'll figure something out."

…

Two weeks later, Randy stopped Sara just outside of catering. He blocked her path, looking down into her eyes. "Why do I have a feeling that there is a reason that you and Zack are lying to us?"

Sara swallowed hard, biting her lip. "We're not lying, I promise. You just... won't believe me. I know this because you don't even remotely recognize me."

Randy sighed, stepping aside. "You're right. I've been scanning my brain for any sort of memory that could be related to you, and I keep coming up with nothing."

"We did go to high school together, Randy. You and John were two years ahead of me. I just don't exactly look anything like I did then. So honestly, I don't blame you for not remembering me." She sighed as she walked by him and continued into catering. She got herself a bit to eat before finding that Zack was sitting at one of the tables, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"What did Randy want?" Zack reached across the table as Sara sat down and took her hand into his.

Sara sighed, "he doesn't want to believe that we went to school together. I don't know how he's going to react when we finally tell him the truth. What if he doesn't _want_ to remember me?"

Zack just shrugged, continuing to eat. "Maybe this is going to be more trouble than it's worth."

Sara shook her head, "at this point, I hope not. I'm actually considering giving up all together if things keep going on like this."

Zack blinked, "you would honestly quit if Randy and John don't believe you?"

"I- I don't know," Sara bit her lip as she looked down.

"But Sara, you've always wanted this. I know you have. You grew up watching your dad. You love this. Don't give up on your dreams because of them." Zack squeezed her hand.

After a few moments, Sara nodded. She knew that he was right. She was just feeling emotional. The more she got to know Randy as a grown up, the more she found herself feeling things for him that she never thought she would. Honestly, she had never felt this way about anyone, and it was scaring her. It was because of this that she wanted to just tuck her tail between her legs and run the other way. Running seemed like such a better idea than deal with anything at that particular time. She just knew that in the end that it wasn't what she actually wanted, and in the end she would regret leaving the WWE prematurely if she ever chose to do so.

Just as she was drifting away into thought, John walked up to them. He shook Zack's hand, then Sara's. As he had Sara's hand in his, he looked into her eyes. He stood there silent for a moment before letting go of her hand and shaking his head. Without saying anything, he walked into the other direction like he had just gotten an emergency phone call, without actually getting a phone call.

The friends sat in silence, blinking repeatedly after John came and went in such a hurry. "Um... what?" Sara finally said after a few minutes.

Zack shook his head, "I have no idea, Sar. That was strange."

"I wonder what that could have been about," she sighed as she gathered her things and got up. "I should get ready for my match."

Zack nodded with a soft smile, "I'll see you at the gorilla position."

Sara smiled with a nod. She didn't say anything else as she left the catering area in a daze over the events that had just occurred. She didn't even consider the possibility that John had started to realize who she was.


	5. Chapter 5

A couple of nights later, Sara sat in a hotel room in Los Angeles. She sighed as she browsed the internet on her laptop, without even realizing it, she stumbled upon a couple of debates on Facebook and Tumblr. Amused, she clicked on the Skype icon at the bottom on her screen. Once the window was up, she clicked on Zack's name, smirking as he accepted the video chat.

"Well, hey there, beautiful," he grinned, yawning. "What's up?"

"Note to self, never enter your name in the search on a website," she giggled.

"Oh no, what do they have you doing now?" He laughed.

"Well, there happens to be this huge debate on whether I'm dating either you or Bruno Mars," she shrugged.

"Jeez, do one video with the guy..."

"Actually, I just started working on a second one today. Word got out. So somehow, we must be dating."

"Well if you go through a third, I'm assuming that means engagement."

"Fourth means I'm pregnant, and we had a quickie wedding in Vegas," she nodded emphatically, laughing.

"I have a feeling your dad wouldn't be too happy with that."

Sara shrugged with a soft sigh, "I think that he knows how gossip rags work. You can't hang out with someone without sleeping with them in the eyes of most. Those people never stop to think that they're not sleeping with every single person they hang out with."

"Does it bother you?" Zack scratched his chin.

"Nah," she sat back. "I saw it happening before I decided to get involved with all of this, so I knew what was coming."

"Well, that's good! The last thing you want to do is get upset over it. Lord knows they'd spin it all around a million and one different ways if you did."

She nodded, "that's why I just shrug it off. You and I know exactly what's really going on between us, and I believe it's a similar understanding with Bruno. It's my life. They can think what they want to about it in the end."

"Learning from the mistakes of others," he nodded. "Very smart."

"Yeah," she giggled. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. You're name is out there now. You're YouTube show may get more hits now."

"There is definitely nothing wrong with that."

"Oh yeah," she grinned. "It's good that we can show the rest of the world that we're actually an entertaining group. If they still don't like it, we will just continue to shun the non-believers."

"Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!" he laughed.

"Come on, Chaaaaaarlie! It's a magical cave of hope and wonders, Charlie. You have to go inside!"

Zack busted out laughing. "Oh my god, it's been way too long since I've seen that. Wonder what ever happened to his kidney."

"It ended up in the snowman at the end of part three."

"There's more than one Charlie the Unicorn video?"

"Oh my god, yes!" Sara laughed. "You mean you haven't heard the Banana King song?"

"Oh jeez, looks like I'm going to have to look these up..."

Sara sat back with a smirk as Zack spent the next fifteen minutes watching the rest of the official Charlie the Unicorn videos. When he looked back into the camera, she laughed. "Insane, huh?"

"Yeah, they're great. There needs to be more videos like these."

"I heard a rumor that they're working on the next one. So hopefully soon."

"Sweet!" he looked down at the clock in the corner of his screen. "And it's after two. I should probably be thinking about getting some sleep."

"Yeah, me too, actually. I've got to get up kinda early for the video shoot."

"Alright, well see you Monday then?"

She nodded with a yawn. "Be good until then."

"No promises, little lady," he chuckled. "Good night, Sar."

"Night Zack," she blew him a kiss and ended the call. After shutting down her laptop Sara crawled into bed and almost immediately fell asleep with a smile on her face. She had pushed away the thoughts of the rumors that she was sleeping with either Zack or Bruno meant that she actually had to have had sex at all ever, and decided to go into the next day with her head held high.

…

Nearly a month went by before Sara and Zack saw John or Randy. They all had been at RAW every week, but the older two men had been avoiding them. Eventually, Sara ran into John in the hall backstage. She bit her lip as she saw him. He looked down, but didn't attempt to escape the confrontation.

"So will you at least acknowledge me, now?" she sighed.

He nodded, slowly looking up. "I'm sorry, Sara. It's just... strange. I just got this feeling the last time that I saw you. It's like as if we're living in our own version of the She's All That movie."

Sara swallowed hard, nodding. "So does that mean you remember me?"

"I..." he shook his head. "Sara, there were so many people that we treated like shit in high school, but I also know that there were a number of invisible people that we never even acknowledged. There may only be one or two of the guys who don't look back and regret what we did, and I promise you that Randy and myself aren't among one of those. We've talked about it before and if we could get the chance to apologize and make up for it, we would in a heartbeat."

She nodded, taking a deep breath, "unfortunately, I wasn't invisible."

He closed his eyes for a moment, sighing. "Even without knowing which one you were, I want to say that I'm sorry for whatever I said or did to you."

She smiled softly, wrapping his arms around him. "I know that you aren't the same teenage asshole football players that you were then."

He let out a sigh of relief as he returned the embrace. "We really aren't now. I'm just glad you told me. We could have gone the rest of our careers never knowing it was you."

She pulled away, blushing. "I don't know if I would have been able to contain myself much longer. I mean, Zack has known that it's me for months now. It's been so hard on both us keeping it from you."

He tilted his head, noticing the blush. "Is there something going on between you and Zack?"

She quickly shook her head, "no, just back to being best friends like we were before... Well, before you guys got to him."

John felt Sara's words crush him into a million pieces. He knew in that moment that not only he had hurt her with his words and torment, but he had taken her best friend away from her. It broke his heart knowing all of the pain he had once caused her. "I am so, so truly sorry, Sara. You've got to know that."

"Yes, I do know. I believe you, John. Fifteen years is a long time. You and Randy are both grown up now, and have matured a lot since then," she shrugged, her cheeks growing a deeper shade of red.

"Um Sara..." he chuckled.

"What?" she blinked.

"You just blushed when you said Randy's name," he grinned.

"I... I did?" she bit her lip, attempting to look away.

He laughed, "hey, it's all good. He's single, and he's a great guy. There's a chance he could be interested."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah... well... I've got a match tonight. So I probably get ready for it."

"Sara, just say the word and I won't mention this to him," John stated in a soft tone.

She nodded, biting her lip. "I'd like to go about it on my own terms."

"Not a problem. Good luck out there tonight," he grinned, nodding.

Sara thanked him as she continued down the hall to go to the Divas locker room to get ready for her match that night. Another step had been accomplished. John knew that she was one of the kids they once bullied in high school, but he wasn't exactly sure which girl she was then. He also knew about her crush on Randy now, which was unexpected. However, she trusted him enough now to keep his word to her to not tell Randy before she was ready for it.


	6. Chapter 6

The next week Sara didn't know what to expect as she went into the arena. She didn't know whether to believe her trust in John in not telling Randy about her crush on him, nor did she know if they had come any further in figuring out just exactly who she was in high school. Still, she went in with her head held high. The Bruno Mars video that she had filmed just a few weeks prior was finished and released on Vevo. She would be showing it that night on RAW for those who probably hadn't seen it yet. As she made her way to catering, she let her mind drift off on days long since gone.

_Flashback:_

_It was the fall of 1998 when everything fell apart for Sara. Just weeks before, Zack had run up to her in the hall, hugging her and spinning her around to tell her that he had made the team. She was genuinely happy for her best friend. She was fifteen and completely unaware of what could happen because of this. As the weeks went on, he had less and less time to spend with her. Between practices, games, various pep rallies, and just simply hanging out with his new team in general, Zack didn't really have time for anything else. She was still happy for him. She just missed him._

_Sara went to the games and pep rallies at first. She just sat in the back corner, cheering for Zack. She could have sat with the other students, but she chose not to. She just kept to herself, semi-rereading a book she had probably already read five times before, paying just enough attention to notice when Zack had done something. Football wasn't her thing, but it was his, and she was a supportive friend._

_The last game Sara attended was one she would never forget. Zack was on fire the entire game. It was obvious he would be something special after that. When he scored the winning touchdown, the entire crowd went wild. There was such a thunderous ovation for the sophomore standout that a large part of San Antonio could hear it. She actually lost the book she had been reading as she ran down the stands to congratulate him. He hugged her tightly, spinning her around a few times before a couple of the popular girls came up to him and began hitting on him. Something inside of Sara told her that everything was about to change after that._

_The following Monday at school, one of the guys intentionally bumped into Sara, causing her to fall onto all fours and her papers to go flying all over the hallway. She growled softly, looking at the floor for a moment. She knew that getting up and performing a simple hip toss on the jerk that ran into would make a huge statement. She had already began to receive a little training, so a little maneuver like that would be nothing to her. At the same time, she knew how high school politics worked by then. Unless she wanted to out herself, and tell everyone who her father was, she would get in trouble for assaulting one of the more popular kids. Instead, she took the meek route. She slowly gathered her things, stuttering an apology to the person who had run into her and got up, turning to see the entire football team crowding over her, including Zack._

"_Why don't you watch where you're going, nerd girl," the meat head who hit her grunted._

"_I'm sorry. I will next time," Sara squeaked out. She caught Zack's eyes amongst the group, they were apologetic, yet he chose to not to say anything._

_One of the other guys noticed the look on Zack's face, so he nudged him. "Do you think we're wrong, Ryder? Are you on this geek's side?"_

_Zack blinked and quickly shook his head, "no of course not. This is our hallway. Everyone should make room for us."_

_Sara just rolled her eyes, continuing to gather her things as the team laughed and continued down the hall. Just as she was standing to look for more, she turned to see a set of blue eyes looking into hers. He handed her a stack of her papers and one of her books. "I believe these are yours."_

"_Y-yeah, thanks," she quickly took her belongings and ran down the hall._

Lost in her thoughts, Sara bumped into someone head on. Before she could fall over, the man, who was much more solid than she was, brought his hands to her shoulders to steady her.

"Oh... h-hey Randy," she blushed, getting her bearings back.

"Daydreaming?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, just thinking about the past," she bit her lip, looking down.

"_Our_ past? I mean... Well, I'm still trying to think of where I know you from," he stopped seeing her look up once more.

She smiled softly, "you were in this particular memory, yes."

"So John says that we didn't treat you very well. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that you were one of the girls who turned one or more of us down. A girl as hot as you couldn't have been possibly made fun of for anything else," he said as John walked up beside him.

"Hey Sara," John grinned, pulling her in for a hug.

She smiled, returning the hug. "Okay, okay. How about I give you a clue?"

"Yes, and Sara?" Randy tilted his head.

"Yeah?" she bit her lip.

"Consider this my preliminary apology. I'm sorry for whatever I said to you," he smiled softly.

Sara nodded, "okay... I'll give you this one. Austin isn't my last name." She smiled as she continued her way to catering to get ready for the night.

…

Later in the night, Sara was in the middle of her first important match. She was facing the current Divas champion, Eve Torres, in a non-title match. She knew that if she were to pull off the win, she could earn a shot at the belt. Sara couldn't particularly stand Eve on or off camera, so she wasn't about to take anything lightly from her competitor. Sara couldn't stand Eve's fake smile, nor her fake sportsmanship. When Eve attempted to hold out her hand for Sara to shake, Sara just smirked as she took the other woman's hand and flipped her over into her back. Not giving the other woman any time to recover, Sara grabbed Eve by the hair and got her to her feet only long enough for a snap-mare takeover. Any time during the match where it looked like Eve was getting the upper hand, Sara immediately turned it around. The match lasted almost ten minutes, which was actually cutting into the time for the next match. Sara didn't care, though. Once she felt that Eve had enough, she decided to pull out her own finishing maneuver. After many times of using her father's move, she knew it was time to use one of her own. She first performed a spinning neck breaker on Eve, and immediately transitioned it into a spine buster. After pinning Eve for the three count Zack joined her in the ring, bringing a microphone to his friend.

Sara grinned at the audience before looking down at the woman rolling out of the ring, favoring her back. "Now that, WWE Universe, is what I'd like to call a 'Stone Cold Buster'. I can't go around using daddy's move forever," she shrugged. "Oh, and one more thing, for those who don't know, I did another music video with Bruno Mars. Would you like to see it?" She laughed as the crowd cheered and pointed to the Titan Tron, "enjoy!" She dropped the microphone and walked over to the ropes, letting Zack hold them for her as she exited the ring. They walked up the entrance ramp together, watching the video, going behind the curtain when it was about half over.

By the time the video was finished playing, Sara and Zack had made it to the locker room area. They looked up to see John and Randy applauding for her.

Sara couldn't help but giggle, "the match or the video?"

Randy brought an arm around her shoulders, giving her a half hug. "Both. You looked great out there."

Sara noticed Zack and John exchange a look, which earned a sneer from her. "Thanks guys. Someone needs to knock her off that pedestal."

"Hey," John laughed, "after a match like that, you're definitely going to be in a pay-per-view in the near future. Maybe even getting a title shot."

She shrugged, trying not to let the fact that Randy still had his arm around her effect her in any way. "That would be awesome. I can only hope that AJ and Booker T see it that way."

"We could always push them for you," Randy kissed the side of her head, which caused her to turn bright red.

Zack cleared his throat, "well, we should let her shower off."

"Yeah," John nodded, "we can hang out with her later."

Sara mouthed 'thank you' to Zack and John as she slipped out from Randy's embrace and into the Divas locker room.

Once the door swung shut, Randy sighed, "I can't believe she's one of the girls we treated like crap in high school."

John nodded, looking down. "Same here. She didn't deserve it."

Zack tilted is head, "hey c'mon bros. That was a lifetime ago. She knows that you aren't the same people you were then. She definitely isn't the same, either."

"Obviously," Randy chuckled, shaking his head. "I still can't place her."

"Me either," John sighed.

"You will, bros. It will just take some time," Zack reassured them.

_Flashback:_

_South San Antonio High had won the state championship that year, which was of course a huge thing for a Texas high school football team. Sara had been hoping to get her best friend back once the season was over, but Zack managed to retain his popular jock status around the campus. She had waited a couple of months until the basketball season was in full swing, however things hadn't changed. The football team still ruled the halls, and the lesser students had to either duck into the nearest doorway, or smash themselves into the lockers whenever the team made their way down the hall. Zack could have went back to her after that, but he didn't. She could have sworn that she received a sympathetic look from one of the other guys as they passed her by once. Like as if he had known they had taken something from her, but no real remorse was shown. High school played out just like every other school in the country. There was a food chain and Sara was on the bottom of it. She knew it. She also knew that Zack had made his way to the top, and she had no business trying to drag him back down. That was just how life worked. Who was she to question things?_

_One night in March Zack walked up to Sara's porch after being dropped off from watching RAW with the guys. "Hey stranger..."_

"_What do you want?" she grunted, not looking up from her book._

"_I just wanted to see how you were doing," he hesitantly took another step closer to her._

"_Wouldn't you rather spend a couple of more hours discussing how cool it was that Stone Cold hit Vince McMahon with yet another stunner?"_

"_H-how did you know about that?"_

"_Trust me," she stood up, gathering her things, "I know a hell of a lot." She gave him an icy glare before walking into her house._

Now he knew. Now Zack knew everything about Sara. Who she was. Where she came from. It was only a matter of time before Randy and John found out, but would they believe her?


	7. Chapter 7

Two weeks later Sara walked into catering carrying a book against her chest. She sat down next to Zack with a grin, looking over to John and Randy across the table. She knew that she could have waited a bit longer, drawing out the suspense. It wasn't like the two older men had come up with any guesses as to who she was before. She didn't want to, though. She knew that they both regretted the way they had treated her in the past. So it wouldn't be fair to torture them any longer.

"What cha got there, gorgeous?" Randy smiled at her.

Sara's cheeks reddened a bit as she set the book down, facing it in Randy and John's direction. "A window into the past."

John's eyes widened, "that's the yearbook from our senior year."

"We may as well take a look back," Sara nodded, "but just a warning, it may not be pretty."

"I highly doubt that," Randy shook his head as he flipped through the book to the pages where Zack and Sara's class were pictured. He stopped at a few memories along the way, smiling at the pictures of the football team.

"Wow, looking at this is insane," John chuckled.

Just as Randy was coming close to the page that Sara was on, a stagehand walked up. "Excuse me, Mr. Cena, Mr. Orton? Miss Lee is looking for you."

"AJ?" Randy tilted his head.

The stagehand nodded with a shrug and walked off.

"Well, the boss beckons," John shrugged.

"Can we borrow your yearbook, Sar?" Randy asked with a rather seductive looking half grin.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you guys later." Sara managed to keep herself composed until the older two men left. Once they were out of sight, she took a deep breath, her eyes going wide.

"I think that someone is crushing back," Zack grinned, patting his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, but... me? And what if when he finds out..." she bit her lip.

"Hey, hey..." Zack shook his head, "don't think like that, Sara. If he is into you now, and suddenly isn't anymore just because of who you were then. That just means he's not worth it."

Sara shrugged with a sigh, "I guess you're right."

"Now did you want to get anything to eat before my match tonight?" he placed his hand on her's.

She shook her head, "no, I'm good. I ate a little bit ago."

…

As much as Sara enjoyed seeing the tag team division thriving once more, there were some parts of it that very much annoyed her. One of those things being Rosa Mendez. In Sara's mind, the only thing worse than the sound of Rosa's voice was the sound of Vickie Guerrero's voice. However, it wasn't by much. By the time the match was about half over, Sara walked around to the corner of the ring near where Rosa was babbling in Spanish, rolling her eyes.

"What do you want?" Rosa asked Sara in a snarky tone.

Sara just smirked, "¿Sabes qué? Todos sabemos que los usted está probablemente haciendo los dos. (You know what? We all know that you are probably doing both of them.)" She motioned to both Primo and Epico as she spat out her insult.

Rosa blinked as both of the addressed men turned their heads toward Sara in shock. "Ah, sí? Eres una perra que no va salir de la sombra de papá. (Oh yeah? You're just a little bitch that won't get out from under daddy's shadow.)"

During the distraction, Zack was able to get the upper hand against Epico, clearly turning the match into his favor.

"Do you have any idea what those two just said, JR?" Michael Cole laughed.

"My Spanish is a little rusty, but I'm not exactly that was all PG, and I'm fairly sure that Rosa just insulted Sara's father. However, Sara did exactly what she needed to do. Epico is now isolated in the corner of Zack Ryder and Santino Marella. This match most likely won't last longer."

Just as the words left Jim Ross's mouth, Zack knocked down Epico in one corner of the ring. He called for the "Broski Boot" and tagged Santino. Zack ran to the other corner, kicking Epico in the head before exiting the ring. Santino then made his way in just as Sara tackled Rosa outside of the ring, distracting Primo. The Italian superstar pulled the Cobra sock onto his arm, posed for the strike, called out "Cobra!" and darted his fingers into Epico's neck right after he stood up. Santino pinned Epico for a three count and the bell was rang.

Zack rolled into the ring to get his hand raised with his partner, only to notice that Sara was still attacking the other woman outside of the ring. Sighing, he rolled back out of the ring, only to wrap his arms around his best friend's waist and pull her away from the obviously less qualified manager of the recently defeated opposing team. Santino got in between them as Primo and Epico helped Rosa up and retreated up the ramp. After giving her a few moments to relax, Zack set Sara back down, shaking his head. "You enjoy this, don't you?" he laughed, making sure that a camera was close by to hear them as they made their way up the ramp.

Sara shrugged, "you know how my dad was. Now what type of daughter would I be if I didn't live up to the family name?"

Soon after making their way to the locker room area, Sara looked up to see a camera on them. She smirked, looking to Zack. "Looks like I may get a match next week out of this."

Just as Zack was about to respond, Rosa ran up from behind, knocking Sara over. The smaller woman attempted to extract revenge on the more skilled athlete, but to no avail. Sara quickly got the upper hand, beating Rosa to the ground, hitting her repeatedly.

The two teams who had just competed against one another quickly pulled the women apart, just as AJ skipped by. "You're right, Sara. You do have a match next week. Against Rosa. Under the stipulation that these four," she motioned to Zack, Santino, Primo, and Epico, "are no where near the ring."

Sara shrugged as Rosa began to protest in rapid fire Spanish. AJ just ignored her and continued skipping down the hall.

"I'm game. See you next week, puta (slut)," Sara smirked as she walked down the hall.

…

Once the show was over, John and Randy finally found Zack and Sara just as they were about to leave. Randy had the yearbook in hand.

"Did you forget about us, Sar?" Randy pouted playfully as he walked up to the best friends.

Sara, who was still laughing over her segment earlier, stopped in her tracks, blinking. "Yeah... I kinda did."

"We heard you got into it with Rosa," John smirked.

Sara shrugged, "she was getting on my nerves. Daddy always taught me that if you don't like something, do something about it. So I did."

"I didn't even know that this chick knew any Spanish," Zack chuckled.

"You missed a lot of years, my friend," Sara grinned.

"Anyway, we've had time over the course of the night to completely look through the yearbook," Randy nodded, opening it to a page he had marked with one of the sheets from his script.

"Any leads," Sara tilted her head.

"Well, there is one. We just... it can't be," John stated as Randy turned the book around to show Zack and Sara the page that they had marked, which indeed had Sara on it.

"We remembered that when you were born, your dad's name was still Williams," Randy explained. "This girl's name is Sara Williams, but..."

"But what?" Sara bit her lip.

Randy closed the book. "I'm not ready to accept it." He handed the book back to Sara, readjusted the bag on his shoulder and walked out of the arena.

Sara frowned as John followed Randy out. "Guys," she turned to call them back, but they were already gone.

Zack brought his arm around Sara's shoulders. "At least they got it right?" he offered.

Sara leaned into him, clutching the book to her chest. "I don't know... there was just something about the look on Randy's face. It's almost like..." she shook her head, choosing to ignore it for the time. "Fuck if I know. Let's just go."

* * *

**Okay, so we're obviously coming toward the end of the first arch. There will be at least a few more chapters after John and Randy believe and accept that she is the same girl that they bullied in high school. We'll just see where it goes and if I keep getting inspired for it.**

**Also, I don't actually speak Spanish. So I used .com for the translations. That means if it's not grammatically accurate, that's why.**


	8. Chapter 8

A little over a week later, Stone Cold sat in the studio where his daughter was having a photo shoot. Despite the fact that she had recently turned twenty-eight, he was still very protective over her. He wanted to make sure that the whole thing was tasteful. As her father, he wanted to make sure that she never did anything that made her uncomfortable. Ironically, she was becoming uncomfortable by his very presence. As much as she enjoyed the stability of her father protecting her, she wished that he would realize that she was an adult now, and that she was able to handle herself just fine.

Just as Sara was beginning her last set Randy walked up beside Stone Cold. "Damn, she's beautiful," he shook his head.

The older man turned to the current superstar, tilting his head. "I know that you know that she's my daughter."

Randy turned to face Stone Cold with a soft smile. "No disrespect, sir. I'm just stating a fact."

Stone Cold sighed, "alright, this is true. Orton, right?" he held out his hand to the younger man.

"Randy," he nodded, firmly shaking Stone Cold's hand.

The older man nodded, "I remember watching your father, but he was a little before my time."

"He wasn't exactly one of the more memorable ones," Randy shrugged. "But he's my dad."

"Hey, he's a Hall of Famer. That's memorable somehow," Stone Cold chuckled.

"True enough," Randy smirked.

"So why exactly have you shown up at my daughter's photo shoot?" Stone Cold looked to the younger man skeptically.

"I was hoping she may want to hang out after," Randy stated simply. "That is, if you're okay with it." The former champion had learned his lesson when he talked about wanting to ask Brooke Hogan out and felt her father's wrath. This time, he wanted to at least attempt to be a little more respectable about asking out the daughter of an icon.

Stone Cold looked the younger man up and down with a shrug. "I don't see the harm in it. So long as she's okay with it, of course."

"So you would be okay with me asking your daughter on a date?" Randy blinked.

"Just know that I'll be watching you. You aren't exactly hard to find. Even if you hide out on your days off, you have to show up to work," Stone Cold winked.

Randy nodded timidly as Sara walked up to them.

"Hey dad, I'm done for the day." She tilted her head, "hey Randy, what are you doing here?"

"He's here to steal you from me," her father chuckled.

"Randy?" she smiled, turning to her coworker.

"I was just wanting to know if you wanted to hang out. Talk, grab something to eat, nothing too dramatic," he wanted it to sound casual in front of her father, but he wanted to talk about what happened the week before at RAW, and hoped that she caught on.

"Yeah, sure. Just let me go get changed," Sara nodded as she pushed past them.

"Can I trust you with my daughter, Randy?" Stone Cold turned to him once Sara had disappeared. "I don't think that she's really dated at all before."

…

About an hour later, Randy and Sara were sitting in a park, having gotten Subway. They found a quiet corner where they could subtly watch people, and no one really seemed interested in who they were. Sara was more than content with just sitting there, but she knew that they would eventually talk about the past week, and how Randy had reacted to finding out who she was. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but at the same time she did. For the most part, he just acted like he didn't want to believe her. Which could have been easily out of guilt. However, Sara had recently remembered something that may have told another story.

She smiled as she took a sip of her drink, "I guess that I was thinking that you didn't want to see me anymore."

Randy nodded with a sigh, looking down for a moment. "The whole thing is just a lot harder to swallow than I had expected it to be," he admitted.

Sara frowned, "so does this mean you believe me?"

Randy bit his lip, "most of me does. There is a fear holding me back from fully accepting it, though."

"You actually were nice to me," she stated softly.

He nodded, swallowing visibly, "I was probably one of the biggest jerks in the school, too."

She punched him in the arm playfully, "even jerks have a soft spot. My dad was a huge jerk, if you remember."

"Oh, I remember," he nodded with a chuckle. "He still scares me a little."

"Any particular reason?" she smirked.

"I told him that I wanted to ask you out," he stated in a flat tone and shrugged.

Sara choked on her bite of sandwich momentarily. "Excuse me?"

He reached over, rubbing her back. "Yeah... I mean... I don't want to jump into anything, but I'm definitely interested."

"Not that we have terribly much time to date in our line of work," she shrugged with a sigh.

"We can make it work if we really want it," he nodded with a smile. "So does that mean that you're interested?"

Sara bit her lip, looking down. "I've never had a boyfriend before, Randy. After years of focusing on studying, I've been all about wrestling."

"I'll understand if you'd rather be married to the profession," he shrugged, dejected.

"I never said that," she took his hand into hers. "I just need to take things slow."

"I would never dream of rushing you, Sara. We can go at whatever pace you are comfortable with," he gave her hand a squeeze. "Despite how I come off on at work, I am actually a respectable guy."

"I'd believe it," she let out a small laugh.

"And why is that?" he smirked.

"All of this time basically alone and far away from my dad, and you haven't even attempted to attempt to make a move yet," she shrugged.

"Do you want me to kiss you, Sara?" he smiled, leaning in a little.

"Anything is better than Ziggler," she shrugged. "I still can't believe what he tried to do."

"You need a real man, Sara. One who will treat you right, and show you want a real kiss it like," he grinned closing the gap between them. He pressed his lips against hers, softly at first, waiting to feel her relax and gently part her lips for him. He grinned into the kiss, gently gliding his tongue across her lower lip before slowly pulling away.

"Yeah, that... I... I..." she blushed, looking away.

"That was your first kiss," he smiled, pulling her closer to him.

"Was I bad?" she frowned.

He quickly shook his head, "no, I can just tell by your reaction. It's okay, though. I won't say anything if you don't want me to."

She sighed, "it's just embarrassing. Being as old as I am, and yet so inexperienced. I mean, Ziggler tried to kiss me, but I immediately pushed him away."

"I don't think you should be ashamed, Sar. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Everyone moves at their own pace in life," he smiled, kissing her again.

…

A couple of days later, Randy met up with John to catch up over a beer. The grin hadn't left his face all night, which didn't go unnoticed by his best friend.

"Okay Orton, spill," John chuckled from behind his beer bottle.

"It's like I'm sixteen all over again. This is such a great feeling," Randy sighed happily.

"So who's the lucky lady?" John teased.

"It's Sara. We're... sort of together now," Randy blinked, not fully believing it himself.

"Really?" John blinked, almost choking on his beer and setting his bottle down. "What happened to not wanting to believe who she was?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Randy bit his lip.

"Of course, man. You're my best friend," John nodded, reaching across the table and patting the other man's shoulder.

"The reason I'm having so much trouble believing that Sara is the same girl from high school is that I liked her then," he swallowed visibly.

The rest of the night was silent. John didn't know what to say to his best friend's confession, and Randy didn't seem interested in elaborating on the subject any further. It would just be something that they would deal with over time.


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks later on RAW, Stone Cold was there to support his daughter again. Well, he was also there to check up on the status of Sara and Randy, but he did his best to hide it. While Sara was elsewhere, he ran into John and Randy. Randy immediately went to run into the other direction, but his best friend stopped him, only to hear a chuckle from his new girlfriend's father. Randy turned to face the older man, biting his lip.

"Always this nervous around girl's fathers?" Stone Cold grinned.

"Only when I recently started dating one, and her father is scary as you, sir," Randy offered a hopeful smile.

"Well, I try not to be scary," Stone Cold shrugged. "I am just protective, is all."

Randy nodded, "which is understandable, sir. I just know that I don't have the best reputation."

"First off, please don't call me 'sir'. Keep it to either Stone Cold, or even Steve," he reached over, patting Randy's shoulder. "And I know about your reputation, but I'd prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Well, I hope to not disappoint, s—Steve," Randy stuttered out.

Stone Cold gripped Randy's shoulder, smirking at John. "Well, if you do, I'm sure you can imagine what I'll do to you."

John laughed as Randy tried to squirm away and retreat once more. "There's actually something we've been meaning to ask you, Steve," he got out between laughs.

"And what's that, Cena?" the older man let Randy go.

"You see, Randy and I went to South San Antonio High and graduated back in '98," John started.

"Two former World Champions," Stone Cold looked from John to Randy, nodding. "You don't remember Sara from then, do you?"

…

_Flashback:_

_Most of the teachers gave the entire football team a "free ride" the entire year, but there was one in particular that wasn't so nice to Randy. In April he was assigned a paper and needed to go to the library to research the topic. Not ever really ever doing any of his schoolwork on his own, he was completely lost. He was wandering through one of the stacks of books aimlessly, a completely dumbfounded look on his face. At the rate he was going, he would never find what he was looking for and he would be there for the next ten years._

_Sara couldn't help but smile a little as she walked up. She remembered this boy as the one who actually picked up some of her things for her when one of the other guys knocked her over in the hallway a few months before. "Looking for anything in particular?" she asked in a soft tone. It was a library, afterall._

_Randy snapped out of his trance and looked over to Sara. He let out a sigh, "Zarchinski decided I needed to do a paper on the American Revolution, or something like that."_

_Sara looked at the books in front of him. "Well... you're close," she giggled._

_His shoulders slumped. "Lemme guess, I'm in left field?"_

"_Yeah," she let out in a sarcastic whisper, scrunching up her nose. She covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh out loud. "This is Science Fiction, Randy."_

_Randy squinted, looking closer to the titles on the side of the books. He saw mentions of stars and space and groaned. "How am I ever going to get through college like this?"_

"_You're not," she shrugged. "The only way these books are even relatively close to history is if you're doing a paper on the Mayans."_

"_Thanks for the vote of confidence, geek," he sighed with a smile._

"_Would you rather me lie to you and get your hopes up? College isn't for everyone. However, you are an amazing athlete. If I were you, I'd go with that," she shrugged once more grabbing his arm. "C'mon..."_

_He raised an eyebrow as she pulled him away. "What are you doing?"_

"_There's obviously no way you're going to do this on your own." She looked up at his face and smiled, "don't worry, there are no popular kids in here. No one will see us together."_

_He nodded, "but why are you doing this for me?"_

"_You're an asshole to everyone in this school except me," she smiled as she ushered him into the American History section. "Trust me, someone on my end of the high school food chain really notices these things."_

_Randy felt his cheeks burning with every word that escaped her lips, added to the fact that their bodies were so close to one another. He hated himself for not having the balls to stand up to his so-called friends and just admit how he felt about this nerdy chick who was helping him despite how she had been treated by everyone else in the school. "Well, thank you. I know that I don't deserve it."_

_She nodded with a smile, "now, let's see that assignment."_

_He blinked, momentarily forgetting where it was, only to look down at the sheet of paper in his hand. "Oh... here..." he handed it to her._

"_You okay, Orton?" she smirked as she looked it over._

"_Yeah, I'm just nervous about this. Most of my grades are handed to me," he lied with a shrug._

_She nodded, oblivious. "Well, the bright side is that you have choices. I'm going to take the Boston Tea Party out right away, though."_

_He tilted his head, "why is that?"_

"_It's the easiest option. The symbolism is too obvious. Zarchinski will expect you to go for this, if you do the assignment at all." She paused, taking a deep breath, "I won't do the whole thing for you, but since I have plenty of time, I will give you as much help as you need."_

_He nodded, "I can deal with that. So what subject do you think I should do?"_

_She grinned, pulling out the pen she had been chewing on earlier and circled one of the topics and handed the sheet back to him. "It's a good one. This way it won't be obvious that you had help. I believe we can really impress him with this one." She pulled out a couple of books and walked off in search of a table to sit at and begin to work on Randy's paper._

…

An hour later, Randy and John sat together in the locker room. Randy slumped in a chair, shaking his head. He smiled as he got a text from Sara and responded.

"Well, that can only be Sara," John laughed.

"Yeah, she wanted to let me know that she was ready for the night," he sighed softly.

"Yet, you're not completely happy. I take it you didn't like what we heard a little bit ago?" Jphn tilted his head.

Randy shrugged, biting his lip. "We have as much confirmation as we can get without a time machine. Hot, Diva Sara was once cute, nerdy Sara. I graduated because of this girl."

"How's that, bro?" Zack blinked as he walked up. "And wait... you thought she was cute in high school?"

Randy sighed with a nod. "I'm still having trouble believing that she's the same girl. Even after seeing her yearbook picture, and her dad confirming it. I'm already a horrible boyfriend." He looked up with a shrug, "I wouldn't have gotten through a paper senior year if it hadn't been for her. It was on American History, and she found me looking for research material in the Science Fiction."

John laughed, "I remembered that paper. The teacher didn't want to believe that you did any of it."

Zack laughed, shaking his head. "So we're about 99% of the way there with you two. You both know that it's her, but you don't seem to be fully convinced."

John nodded, "for me, it's out of guilt."

Randy bit his lip with a shrug, "in a way, it's guilt for me, as well."

"But man, can you imagine what you would have been put through back then if you had admitted to anything?" John shrugged, "I don't know if you could have handled it then."

Zack shook his head, looking over to Randy. "Well, that's an interesting turn of events. You liked geeky Sara back in high school?"

"Guilty," Randy nodded with a laugh.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but I think that she'd accept it. Especially now that you have told her how you feel, I'm assuming," Zack shrugged.

"Not exactly. I really only let on that it was a recent development when I asked her out," Randy sighed.

"Well, I'd tell her soon. That is, unless you actually want to be a horrible boyfriend," John shrugged as there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he called toward the door.

Sara popped her head in. "Sorry, I couldn't wait!" She grinned, walking over to Randy and kissing him. "I hope that daddy didn't traumatize you too much."

"Let's see, he didn't piss himself, and he only tried to run away twice," John teased.

"Yeah, real funny," Randy scowled at John before pulling Sara onto his lap.

"So what's the 'remembering Sara' status, boys?" Sara grinned, bringing her arms around Randy's shoulders.

"The Battle of Saratoga," Randy smirked, kissing her temple.

There it was. Months had gone by. She still wasn't sure if they accepted who she was, but that one little statement coming from Randy's lips told her that he remembered the day they shared together in the library. A huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She wasn't hiding from them anymore, and she could just be herself once more. Now she had to focus on her budding relationship, and pray she didn't screw it up.


	10. Chapter 10

**I bet you didn't see this coming. This is the last chapter. It was a great journey for me. I'd like to thank futureWWEDiva2011 for giving me the idea for it, as well as everyone else that stopped by and read it. If you haven't yet, you should hope over and check out my other story "My Happy Ending". I fear that may be coming to a close soon here, as well. So without any future ado, here it is, the finale of "Remember Me"...**

* * *

Six months went by after Randy and John accepted who Sara was in their past. Randy actually confessed within a matter of weeks that he had crushed on her in high school. She was a little upset that he hadn't said anything, but she understood. She knew that things would have been different if he had said something back then, but she was happy with the ways turned out. She was now the Divas champion, and Randy was the WWE Champion. They would be heading into WrestleMania to defend their titles, accompanying one another to the ring for each others matches. Sara went up against Layla, beating her with ease. Randy's match was another story, though. As Sara stood next to John at ringside, though not quite sure why he had gone out with them, she watched a hard fought match between her boyfriend and Wade Barrett, who had won the Royal Rumble only a couple of months prior.

Sara gasped as Wade went for the "Souvenir Elbow", but cheered when Randy ducked out of it. Moments later, Randy hit the mat. The Viper had coiled and the match would be over soon. The first attempt at an "RKO" was a fail, which only angered the Apex Predator. Wade ducked out of the way and flung Randy into the ring post. As Randy's chest met with the turnbuckle, a very familiar, demented look filled his eyes. Sara and John smirked, knowing exactly what would be coming next. Wade had bounced off the ropes to gain momentum for his next attack, but it would prove fruitless as Randy in turn pulled off a perfect "RKO" seemingly out of no where. Sara walked over to where the title was being held and took it from the time keeper. She slid into the ring as Randy's hand was raised by the referee. She waited for Randy to do his normal pose in the corner of the ring before he walked over to her and took his belt, raising it into the air. He slipped his other arm around Sara's waist, pulling her in for a very passionate kiss. The crowd erupted as John climbed up onto the apron, a microphone in one hand and something else in the other. Sara couldn't quite made out what was in her friend's closed hand.

"Wait here for me, baby," Randy requested before kissing Sara once more and walking over to his best friend, taking each of the items from him. "Hold this for me, buddy?" was heard over the microphone as Randy handed John his title.

John nodded, hopping back off the apron with a grin.

Randy walked back over to Sara, speaking into the microphone. "Sara, I've been in love with you since high school. I waited a long time to say anything, but I couldn't be happier that I finally did. You are beautiful, talented, and you definitely have your dad's mean streak. Which I have to admit, is one of my favorite things about you. These past six months with you have been the best six months of my life, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my months with you." He paused, lowering himself down onto one knee. The crowd erupted once more, knowing exactly what was coming next. He opened his hand to reveal a small black box. He opened it, a beautiful diamond ring inside of it. "Sara Ann Williams, would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"

A tear managed to slip down Sara's cheek as she saw her father at the top of the entrance ramp, who nodded at her. She shouldn't have been surprised that Randy had went to her dad first before proposing, but she was. She took the microphone from him, wiping the tear away as she nodded. "Of course I'll marry you, Randy."

Randy grinned, taking the ring from its holder and slipping it onto her finger. After letting the ring box and microphone hit the mat, Randy slipped his arm around Sara's thighs and picked her up. She laughed as she looked down at him from her new position, now a couple feet over his head. Moments later, he let her slide down to where they were face to face. He smiled, "I love you, Sara."

She hugged him tightly, "I love you too, Randy."

They left the ring together, John close behind them, handing Randy his title. The cameras caught a closeup of the ring on Sara's finger. It was nothing like the tiny, obviously fake ring that Daniel Bryan had given AJ Lee nearly a year before. It was just as real as the proposal was. This would be no "RAW wedding". It was the real thing. They met Stone Cold at the top of the ramp, who hugged them both tightly before they all retreated to the backstage area.

Just before reaching the locker room area, where they knew they would have a group of people waiting to congratulate him, Sara stopped Randy, raising her eyebrow. "Did you ask my father permission to take my hand?"

"Did you really think he'd have the guts to propose to you any other way?" John chuckled.

"Good point," Sara laughed just as she was about to be tackled by Zack. Thankfully, she caught him and backed into a wall, rather than falling onto the concrete floor with her best friend.

"Hey Ryder," Randy chuckled, "how about you do me a favor and not kill my fiancee?"

"Sorry," Zack coughed, stepping away from Sara. "I'm just happy for you dudes, is all."

"So, beers tonight?" John raised an eyebrow.

Randy looked over to his future father-in-law. "You in, Steve?"

"Definitely. You should know better than to even ask if I'm up for a few beers," Stone Cold chuckled.

"And this is why I can drink you boys under the table," Sara giggled.

…

A few hours later, Randy and Sara were stumbling into their hotel room together. She was covering him with kisses, attempting to remove his clothing. Thankfully, his head was clear enough to stop her and sit her down on the bed.

She looked up at him with a pout, "don't you want me, baby?"

"Of course, Sara..." he swallowed visibly, removing his shoes, then hers before joining on her on the bed. "I just think that we've waited this long, what's a few more months?" He shrugged, "we may as well do it right."

"But we've been together for six months, it's got to have been at least that long for you," she attempted to drunkenly reason with him, leaning over to kiss his neck.

He let out a small moan, biting his lip. "Try never," he whispered.

She pulled away, blinking. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he turned to her, smiling.

"Y-you're a virgin? You? How... what... why?" she shook her head in disbelief as she turned to sit back against the pillows, draping her legs across his lap.

He shrugged, "it's not that I haven't had plenty of offers. It just never felt right."

She nodded with a smile. "I guess that I can take that. So it looks like we'll be having a white wedding."

He nodded with a chuckle, "and an honest one, at that."

"Sounds good to me," she held out her arms to him, wanting to cuddle for the night.

…

They married five months later in a private ceremony. A few pictures leaked onto the internet, but they shrugged it off. It wasn't like the honeymoon video had mysteriously made it onto the net, like with a few other celebrity couples. Sara continued wrestling until she became pregnant with their first child four years later. They welcomed Jordyn Elizabeth Orton into the world in the spring of 2018. It didn't take very long at all for Randy to have his world revolve around his girls. Sara began joining Randy to ringside again a few months later, and even wrestled occasionally. In the fall of 2020, Randal Keith Orton, Junior was born. Sara wrested occasionally for another year after returning from having her son before fully retiring. In 2025, Sara was inducted into the Hall of Fame, with Jordyn giving one of the most adorable induction speeches in history.

Sara's time had come and she embraced it. She embraced it in the best way possible and she knew that she wouldn't be forgotten. Being forgotten once in her life was more than once for her. Now she would always be remembered.

THE END :'(


End file.
